Hey Mom and Dad!
This was a very eventful week. It started off kind of slow, but definitely picked up by the end of the week.
Things
got started on Wednesday. We talked to a guy from English classes and
asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ with him. He
accepted, so we asked him to come a half hour early to the next class.
We called up a member and asked him to come to the lesson with us. We
were all set, then the guy didn't show up on time. He got there about
five minutes before class started. But that didn't stop us. We switched
up our approach a bit and taught him a Bible based lesson in five
minutes about Jesus Christ being our Savior and how through faith in him
we can strengthen our lives and our families. At the end we told him we
wanted to help him strengthen his faith and invited him to meet with us
again. Then he started telling us about how he had read up a bit on
Mormons before and he was interested in learning more about our religion
and about how we have a modern prophet to guide us. It was awesome. It
was the first new investigator we had gotten in weeks and I couldn't
have been more excited. Then, after teaching the English classes that
day, one of the students asked us if we would tell him more about our
church. So we're super excited about English classes and the
opportunities they're bringing to us.
Thursday was a big day as well. There is a woman in
the branch who was getting married and she didn't want it to be a big
deal. She just wanted a really small ceremony in her house and nothing
else. She was going to cook food for the eight people who were invited. I
told her that she wasn't allowed to cook for her own wedding and that
we would make something for her. She reluctantly agreed. I thought about
what I'm good at making. I realized that the best I would be able to do
was either make sandwiches or bake cookies. I opted for the latter. Me
and Betty Crocker did some good work that afternoon. My first batch
turned out kind of funky, so I covered them in chocolate frosting to
redeem them. The next batch came out beautifully. I brought two plates
of cookies and some drinks, the ceremony lasted about ten minutes, then
we enjoyed cookies and beverages. I believe I'm now an official wedding
caterer. Throwing that on my resume.
Kaleb with Elder Hart and Elder Wolfe
Friday was a fun day for me because we were booked
all day. It was absolutely beautiful. I think that's how every day
should be in the mission. Just full of appointments. The problem being
that people are always working during the day, so most appointments are
set between 6 and 9. But we were full from 4 to 9. With appointments at
every hour, on the hour. It was a really fun day.
Saturday was a once in a lifetime experience. Belle
Harbor, the community where we're focusing on and where a large portion
of the Hurricane Sandy relief was sent, is a largely Irish community.
And every year, they throw a giant Saint Patrick's Day Parade. It's the
second largest St. Paddy's Day Parade in New York City. We had some
connections and they invited the Mormons to march in the parade. The
call went out and we had some 200 missionaries, all wearing suits or
dresses with yellow Helping Hands vests on top, showing up in Belle
Harbor to march in the parade. We were like a sea of yellow, walking
down the street. The Far Rockaway District was chosen to carry the
banner at the front of the parade. It said in large letters "Mormon
Helping Hands love the Rockaways!" The six of us marched along with an
army of yellow behind us and we received some of the loudest cheers of
anyone in the parade. The only group that could compete with us was NY
Sanitation. They did such an incredible job after the storm. People in
Belle Harbor claim that the only reason they're still there is because
of Sanitation and the Mormons. The parade lasted a mile and we walked
for most of it. A few of us had to leave early to go teach English
classes, but it was still the most amazing experience to march in this
forest of yellow vests and see such gratitude from the people.
Kaleb with the ZL car stuck in the sand... See Epistle 26 for the story
Sunday wasn't quite as exciting. It really wasn't
that great of a day until about 8:15 at night. We hadn't had too much
success until then and we were going to go try some last chance lookups
before turning in for the night. Then we got a call from some other
elders, asking if we were available to give a blessing to a woman in the
branch. We happened to be driving by her street at the time, so we
flipped around and headed over. I was anxious about giving the blessing
in Spanish, so before we started, I asked the woman to forgive any
mistakes we might make and if we accidentally say something funny, it
wasn't on purpose. We didn't exactly know what was wrong, just that she
had some pain in her chest. I had no idea what to say, so I just
followed the spirit. I can't remember exactly what I said, but when I
finished the blessing, I asked her daughter if I had said anything
incorrectly. She told me it was all very good Spanish. That is a miracle
in and of itself. After the blessing, she thanked us and told us that
she felt calmer now. It only took about ten minutes total, but it was a
really cool spiritual experience and it salvaged the whole day for us.
You've always got to be on your toes in the Rockaways.
And that brings us to today. Life is going well,
we're working with good people, and hopefully we're going to start
breaking the shell of Belle Harbor soon. These people need the Gospel in
their lives, they just don't know how it can bless them yet. Though we
may not see huge success right now, hopefully we can plant some seeds
and Belle Harbor will one day flourish in the Restored Gospel. I love
you guys and I hope everything is well in California!
Love,
Elder Erickson
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